Hibernation Should Be For Humans, Too...

Am I right... or am I right?  Hibernating animals are so lucky.  Imagine eating tons of goodies to prepare... then sleep for weeks and wake up skinny and ready to eat again!  Who is with me?

Well, I guess since I can't be a bear...  I might as well embrace my awake status.  Hibernation is always a cool subject to teach about... especially with the little humans.  They are fascinated by animal behavior and it always fits in nicely with our animal needs unit and always seems really well timed around Groundhogs Day... how serendipitous!  ;)

Using paper plates cut in half and with the middle cut out...  we created bear caves and these went up on a bulletin board.  The kiddos had a blast making these and decorating the background.  The googly eyes really make it cool!

Our book for the week was Hibernation from Reading A to Z.  We also watched a super informative video on Brainpop Jr.  We brainstormed all that we learned on the whiteboard and then the kiddos started to write!  They did a really good job!

Each kiddo voted whether or not they thought the Groundhog would see his shadow and then graphed the class information.  The kiddos also completed an ABC order practice page.  Both those sheets are included in my Excuse Me, Mr. Groundhog pack.

We used this FREEBIE from Katie over at Teacher to the Core to do a cool science experiment.  I grabbed 2 empty baby food jars and labeled them "hibernating bear" and "awake bear".... we let the hibernating bear jar rest somewhere nice and quiet in the classroom.  The awake bear jar got passed around to each student for them to shake and hold for a minute or so each.  Then we talked {and wrote} about our findings.

Their writing paired with pictures of them shaking the jar... the science standard posted and a We Can statement made for a great hallway display.  You can read more and find the freebie from Katie in her blog post HERE!!!

Lastly, we did the quick experiment with ice cold water... you know the one where one hand is exposed and the other is in a plastic bag with "blubber"... the kids FLIPPED out over this.  They loved it!

Well today is probably my last snow day {ahem, still no snow here} so I need to get back to my hibernation for the day.  I'm going to curl up on the couch with my coffee and pin to my heart's content!  Hope y'all are having a great Wednesday... stay warm friends... and I'll talk to y'all soon!

A Snow-less Snow Day and Clipboards

Hello to my readers from my couch... that's right...  I was off all day for a snow day....  it didn't actually snow.  at all.  They are saying it will actually snow tonight.  I'm not a believer... but I am off again tomorrow for another snow day!  I have been teaching for 12 years and this is the first snow day I've ever had.  Not a whole lot of snow happening in south Georgia, y'all!  In fact, the last time it snowed here was in February of 2010 and we were on winter break.

I spent the day hanging with my minions.  We went to Wal-Mart this morning for fruit, bread, and gloves... you know.. .just in case! ;)  Then we camped out in my classroom for awhile so I could prepare sub plans for Thursday when the 1st grade teachers have a CCSS planning day at the board office.  Then home to wait for the snow {that never came}.

In between my lessons on Minecraft (thank you boys) I was able to finish some crafty projects.  Check out my handiwork:

I finished several different clipboards for the Tea and Coffee shop.  The front and backs are covered and sealed.  They will have free personalization on the front.  They each have coordinating, sassy ribbons on the top.  Each clipboard has the option of coming with a gift card to Starbucks.  My partner in crime, Tara, and I thought it would be a great option to have.... especially for when it's crunch time at the end of the year and you need to find a cool gift for your child's teacher.  {we experience this personally every.  single.  year... don't judge}  

Did you have a snow day today?  If so... did you do anything crafty?  Did you just chill and snuggle with your kidlets?  I hope that if the weather near you is yucky... that you will be safe and warm.  I will talk to y'all soon!  <3 

Five For Friday... AMEN!

So... the 100th day was yesterday.  It was also a full moon.  Today we had a recognition ceremony.  The kids were literally vibrating on the way out the school doors this afternoon.  I am so thankful for the long weekend.... no Sunday night blues for this girl!  I am linking up with Doodle Bugs for Five For Friday... this one is a crazy compilation...

Remember when I said it was our 100th day on Thursday?  I decided to make my own shirt with tally marks to celebrate.  I was pretty pumped... not even gonna lie!  The black shirt with the silver glitter just made me feel happy all day {and very sparkly!}.  The kids really liked it... and lots of other teachers wanted to touch!

Is your 100th day coming up?  Do you need a shirt?  I am selling ones just like this over at  Tea and Coffee (my joint store with Tara @ and they all fall down).  You can find those listings HERE!  {just look for the right size before purchasing}

Ok... more about the 100th day.  I know I have written about the 100th day pack that I made using the Aging Booth app... my grade level at school got in on the action and MAN their pictures turned out so great!  We were all really impressed with the kiddos' writing.  It has been really neat to see the who school walk down the hallway really slowly so they can look at all the pictures and read!!!!  WAY cool!  I also got this feedback a few days ago... and it MADE my day!  {and looking at the picture now... maybe I should charge my phone more}

As a grade level we decided to do a canned food drive for the 100th day...  our goal was to collect 100 cans by Thursday to donate to our local food bank.  The kids tallied everyday and would get so stinkin' excited when more cans would come in. They would cheer for each other and it made my heart go pitter patter.  I stacked our cans up like a pyramid and they REALLY loved that... I kinda felt like the popular kid! When Thursday rolled around... our 1st grade kiddos had brought in almost 300 canned foods!  How's that for a warm fuzzy?!?!  

I am one excited chick...  my Stitch Fix box has been shipped. It should be coming tomorrow {fingers crossed} or maybe Tuesday b/c of the MLK holiday.  I am so excited to see which 5 items they are including this time.  Have you signed up for Stitch Fix yet?  It is perfect for teachers...  you fill out a style profile, set a price point, and can even give them a link to your Pinterest style boards.  This will be my 4th "Fix" and I am hooked!  It's so nice to try on new things @ home... and all I have to do is use the pre-paid mailer bag to return anything I don't want.  Easy peasy.  IF you think this sounds cool... you can check it out HERE!  

One last one...  this is a picture of the snack that we had yesterday.  Full disclosure... the cookies were on sale at our local grocery store.  The cute napkins were left over from our Wizard of Oz party earlier this year.  This teacher is poor... how long 'til payday, y'all?  Every year I promise "This year I will do better" ... and EVERY SINGLE YEAR by the middle of January I start thinking about pawning my children {totally joking about the kids... but not joking about the poor part}!  

I hope that y'all had a great week... and that your long weekend will be even better.  If you get a chance... check out the new Tea and Coffee store and let me know in the comments which item(s)  you think look the coolest.  Talk to y'all soon!  

8 More Famous African Americans... and My Really Old Firsties

It is SATURDAY!  Can I get an AMEN?  This week was a crazy week.  Seriously... the first part of the week it was 17 degrees!  I don't know if it's ever been 17 degrees since I've lived in south Georgia!  On Monday afternoon my oldest (M1) started vomiting at school.  Tuesday morning I went to wake the kidlets up for school and my youngest (M2) puked everywhere.  Sooooo, we all stayed home Tuesday and cuddled under blankets with ginger ale and trash cans nearby!  As I am sitting here now... it is 70 degrees and our county is  under a tornado watch... one just touched down not that far away.  Cah-razy!

The good news is that in between cleaning the house and cuddling my kidlets on Tuesday, I was finally able to finish my 8 *More* Famous African Americans Pack!  I have been working on this and researching for this pack for a LONG time!  It felt so good to finally finish it!

I already have 1 African American pack that has gotten great feedback over the last year... so I am pumped to have a new one to put out just in time for Black History Month in February.  This one has the same features as the other one, but I also added interactive notebook pages!  Side note:  isn't it crazy that February is only like 2 weeks away?  My smallest human will be 6 on February 1st and that is so tough to comprehend!

highlighting the answers to up the engagement

Also this week in anticipation of the 100th day {ours is this upcoming Thursday}... I took pictures of the kiddos with the Aging Booth app and had them developed at Walgreens (did you know their app lets you send pictures from your phone straight to be developed?  Total #lifesaver)  The kids thought there were a RIOT... and I totally agree!  Check out these cutie patooties!

I had them write on NB paper first... with the prompt "When I am 100 Years Old..."  and some of the things they came up with were hilarious!

{I will babysit kids.  I won't have any teeth.  I will watch NCIS.  I will sew.  I will go into a deep sleep.}  NCIS... who knew?  Once they had their paper with revisions... they were allowed to write on the colored copies {insert gasp and squeals of excitement here!}.

I hung them up in the hallway for everyone to see.  The other kids are definitely stopping by to read... and the teachers are giggling, too!  It really made my week happier.  If you are looking for something like this to do... you can check out my 100th day pack HERE!

I hope that you guys had a great week and that your weekend will be warmer than what many of us experienced earlier in the week!  Hoping you get tons of resting and relaxing in...  or caught up on laundry {ahem}.  I will talk to y'all soon!

A Crafty Giveaway

Remember how I wrote all about being crafty in my Currently post?  Well... that continued today.  I headed back to work today and on my lunch break I ran into Hobby Lobby to get supplies to make my monogrammed long sleeved tee!  I put the kidlets down tonight and got busy with my Silhouette machine.  Here's what my finished shirt looks like {insert proud self patting on back here}.

Soooo...  I decided to try a different kind of giveaway this time.  If you like my shirt and you want to have one... I'm going to give one away!  Just enter below...  it's going to end Sunday night so that I can have some time to make it and mail it out!  Good luck my peeps... may the force be with you :)

Talk to y'all soon!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hello January

It's January and a whole new year!  Hot dog!  I am optimistic about 2014.  I am hoping that it is a great year for me and my family.  I don't really do resolutions so much...  but this picture that I found on Pinterest made me smile.  I think that it's a great reminder of how I'm hoping my year will be!

Because it's a new month... it's time to link up for Farley's Currently!  So... here goes:

1) Listening to a silent house.  M1 had a sleepover at a friend's house last night.  M2 had a cousin over here last night, but he went home with a sore throat after midnight...  It's a temporary silence, but I'll take it!
2) Loving my time off for a multitude of reasons, but I actually had a chance to be "crafty" -ish!  I get frustrated with myself on Pinterest b/c I often lack follow through.  I pin tons of things but don't ever go back and make them or see them through.  Well this week I went back through my "For the Home" board and found 2 ideas that I wanted to try out.  I wanted to do a burlap bedskirt in my guest bedroom and also learn how to do monograms on my Silhouette.  Here are my 2 projects from this week... .what do you think?  If you don't follow me on Pinterest...  you can find me HERE!

3) Thinking that January will be a very hard month and I hope I handle it with grace.  January 5th will mark one year since I delivered Frances.  I must confess that I am much less angry now, but I am not 100% yet.  I don't know how long that will take, but I am a work in progress.  I am thankful that I had the chance to hold her and thankful that I can go to her grave when I need a place to get away.  So I am giving myself some grace this month... but also hoping that other mothers who may be hurting will find hope in my journey and struggle.

4) Wanting.... nothing at all that I can think of.  I am a minimalist anyways and I don't need much to be happy.  My list is quite short actually: my boys, my husband, coffee! :)  Santa was good to me though with gift cards for local shops and a day at the spa in Savannah!
5) Needing to lose some weight and start taking better care of myself.  I don't have a specific number really, but I definitely found solace in food and drinks this year.  I don't know if it was grief or the severe depression, but somewhere along the way ... I lost me!  We'll see, but hopefully the old me is still in there somewhere {and she has a bunch of clothes in the closet waiting, ahem}.
6)  Favorite January memory... a super nervous boyfriend asked me to marry him on New Years Eve 2001... and I promoted him to husband!  Golly... that was 12 years ago!

I hope that your January will be amazing.  I head back to work tomorrow {the mourning has already started}.  Happy New Year bloggy peeps... talk to y'all soon!